For those we love... Scraps of Love:
There comes a time in each of our lives when we are compelled to go beyond our normal actions and do the extraordinary. This is such a time for me. This is the story of how Scraps of Love came to be.

A letter to my friends.....

Five years ago my nephew Tyler suddenly began having seizures. During a recent stay at Children’s Hospital, Tyler was diagnosed with a large brain tumor that is believed to have been causing the seizures all these years.

Tyler is 15 and loves sports, especially wrestling, fishing, hunting, gaming and hanging out with his friends. Right now, though, he cannot do many of those treasured things that boys his age get to do. Worst of all, Tyler is currently unable to attend school. He is a sweet-natured boy with a tender heart. When people meet him they cannot help but instantly like him.

His long term treatment will require major surgery along with recovery and rehabilitation. His rehabilitation will require him to relearn all of the basics of life you and I know how to do and many of us take for granted each day. To help defray some of the costs that his family will incur, I have determined to undertake this "Scraps of Love" project.

How did all this come to be? During an outing with a dear friend, I asked "what do you think of a spaghetti dinner?". She said "Oh, no Heather, lets make a quilt!" I instantly agreed. What better way to spread our love than through our stitches. With the help of some very talented quilting friends, I am creating a twin size quilt that will be raffled off to raise money that will help offset Tylers non-insurance-covered hospital expenses. Elizabeth D. won the quilt!

Donations of any size are very welcome.

Monday, December 20, 2010

On Wednesday we had the drawing for the Scraps of Love for Tyler. There were 71 raffle tickets and Number 11, Elizabeth from Canada won the quilt! Here is Elizabeth's response:"Wow I actually have tears streaming down my face. I will cherish it. I will think of your hard work and will pray for your nephew and his recovery. Thank you and have a blessed Christmas."

Thank you so much for all of your support! We raised $2000 to help with Tyler's hospital stays. This will help with a little more than 2 stays. As with Elizabeth, tears are streaming down my face as this part of Scraps of Love for Tyler comes to a close. We are so thankful for everyone's contributions and support. Everything you did, helped! Here are a couple of pictures of the finished quilt.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Well, there are only three more days left until the raffle! The quilt is all put together and we are finalizing the last little things.

I thought I would give you some of the statistics as of Sunday night:

The quilt was started on October 22

The blog was published on November 12
1040 visits to the blog over 5 weeks, most of the views are from Face Book links.
57 raffle tickets sold with several donations as well.
There are 2 company donation sponsors: Leonard Rice Engineers, Inc. and Raw Land Solutions
Seven people, including myself, have worked on the quilt.

But most of all, I have truly enjoyed working on this project and hearing from you! Your support is overwhelming, Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

In 1 Nephi 16:29 "And thus we see that by small means the Lord can bring about great things." The Scraps of Love for Tyler is a perfect example of this happening and it is through you that this has been brought about!
With all my love,
Heather

Friday, December 10, 2010

The time is going by so quickly! We are finishing up the hand stiches to the quilt in the binding. It is about 1/2 done and expected to be completed by Sunday. As promised here is a picture of the heart and swirl quilting stitches and a picture of the backing. It is such a fun pattern and fabric!

Thank you for all of your support! Merry Christmas!
With all of my love,
Heather

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Many of you have asked how does the quilting process work? The picture to the right shows the Scraps of Love quilt on the quilting machine. The process goes something like this:

You roll the quilt pieces, (the top, batting, and the backing ), onto the roller bars.

Next we pick the pattern to quilt and it quilts that pattern onto the quilt. (By the way, if you look close you can see a preview of the backing piece.)

This process is now completed and we are working on the binding. This is the last piece of the project and will explain how this works in the next blog.

I am so appreciative to all of you who have shared the link to Scraps of Love for Tyler, purchased raffled tickets, and your donations! I especially would like to take a moment to thank all of you have helped me in creating this quilt and helping me to finish the quilt in record breaking time. I never would have finished in time without all of your help and advice!With all my love,Heather

Monday, December 6, 2010

Hi Everyone,
Well the countdown is on. We only have 9 days before the raffle and things are coming together nicely. If you have not gotten your raffle tickets yet and mean to here is your reminder. I cannot believe how fast the time is going by. I have truly enjoyed creating the quilt for the Scraps of Love for Tyler, putting together this blog, and sharing this process with you.

The quilting is amazing. It is a heart swirl pattern and we are now working on the binding.

Tyler is excited for the holidays and a little anxious about his next stay at Children's Hospital in early January.

Thank you for all of your wonderful support!
With all my love,
Heather

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

The quilt is in the next phase. My Friend Coral Lee is in the process of quilting the quilt. I have to tell you that I was so overawed with her quilting machine that I forgot to take a picture of it. It is so impressive! It has a computer that you download or upload patterns into that you follow on the quilt. The pattern that we chose for the Scraps of Love quilt is a heart and swirl pattern.

I would like to thank Coral Lee for all the time she is putting in to quilt the quilt. And to all of you for supporting Tyler and following us at Scraps of Love for Tyler!